It has been proposed to place an RFID tag on or in a wall of a container to confirm the genuineness of the package that includes the container and/or to provide other information concerning the package or a product within the package. Such RFID tag can be secured to a wall of the container after fabrication of the container, embedded in a wall of the container during blow molding of the container, or assembled to a container preform in such a way that the tag will be embedded in a wall of the container following blow molding of the preform.
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/348,662 filed Feb. 7, 2006 discloses a method of making a plastic container having an RFID tag in a wall of the container by providing a mold that includes a mold core and mounting on the mold core an insert that includes an RFID tag. A plastic preform is formed in the mold around the mold core and insert such that the insert is embedded in a wall of the preform. The preform can be blow molded into a plastic container having the insert embedded in a wall of the container. In two exemplary embodiments disclosed in the noted application, the insert is mounted on the mold core by the heat of the mold core that causes the insert to adhere to the mold core, or by means of an embossment on the insert being press fit into a pocket on the mold core. A general object of the present disclosure is to provide a method of making a container and/or a container preform in which the RFID insert is reliably mounted on the mold core, and/or to provide an RFID insert for mounting on the mold core.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
An RFID assembly, in accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, includes an RFID inlay, with an RFID tag, encapsulated within a plastic housing. The housing has a peripheral array of flexible resilient fingers for mounting the housing within a pocket on a support structure, such as a pocket on a mold core. The pocket preferably is on an end of the mold core so that the RFID assembly preferably is disposed substantially beneath the end surface of the mold core. Plastic material, which preferably is the same plastic material as forms the plastic housing in which the inlay is contained, can be injected into a mold cavity surrounding the mold core and the assembly housing without eroding the material of the housing.